Tuesday, 15 April 2008

My Daring Darling Dosa

I’d never heard of dosa until last year when my friend Yaz raved to me about the masala dosa at Nila. It truly was a joy to behold. A wafer-thin pancake, crisp on one side, soft underbelly and stuffed with mushy spicy potatoes. Ever since I have hankered after dosa. How I have admired bloggers who dare to make dosa. Then I saw that Srivalli is holding an event to celebrate dosa.

Wikipedia describes dosa as a ‘South Indian crepe’. It seems that dosa is usually made of rice and split skinned urad dal (a type of black bean or lentil) which are soaked overnight to ferment, finely ground and then fried like a pancake. Apparently it is considered a breakfast dish but can be eaten at other times of day. Making dosa is quite foreign to me and I found Lisa’s advice very useful.

I have written before that I am challenged by Indian cooking. Lately I have made a kofta dish so spicy that E didn’t even reach for Tabasco, a dahl sadly lacking in spice, and a chappati that involved the smoke alarm (more of that another time). So I was a little wary of trying my hand at dosa. I am not good at light and fluffy food which seems likely to float to the heavens if not weighted by a good masala. Instead I turned to a red lentil dosa recipe in one of my cookbooks because the picture suggested it was made of sturdier stuff.

The biggest challenge with the dosa was timing. I needed to plan 32 hours ahead! This makes bread baking seem quick. But plan I did. Last night I got home from one of the most bleak, unrelenting, unrelaxing films I have seen for ages (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) and stood with the noise of food processor motor pounding in my head as I willed the rice and lentil mixture to become smooth. Nay chance! It took forever and then I gave up and decided I would have to live with a little gritty texture. Today I rushed home from work and checked the mixture again, hoping it might have softened overnight but it still felt more mud pie than the anticipated smooth batter.

I almost threw out the batter and swore off attempting any more Indian food. But I don’t like wasting food any more than I like giving up so I persevered. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The itty bitty rice particles seemed to dissolve on the frypan. The dosa was wonderfully spicy and chewy. I served it with a mildly spiced chowder. It was unusual, nice, different!

I will be trying out more dosa after this one. Thanks Srivalli for the prompt I needed.

Red Lentil Dosa(from The Complete Book of Bread and Bread Machines)Makes 6

Place rice, red lentils and water in a small bowl and soak for 8 hours. Drain water and reserve. Place lentils and rice in food processor and blend til smooth. Then add reserved water gradually. (Mine was more gritty than smooth and I found I needed a little water to get it to this stage.) Cover and stand for 24 hours.

Stir in the turmeric, pepper and coriander (or parsley). The recipe also suggests adding ginger, chilli or shredded coconut as optional extras. Heat a heavy frypan over medium high heat and smear with oil (I tip a few drops of oil on the frypan and wipe it around with a paper towel). Place a quarter cup (40-60ml) of batter onto the frypan and use the back of a spoon to spread it into a circle of about 15cm diameter.

Cook for about 2 minutes or until set. (Here I found my pancake experience useful as it was quite similar in that the batter thickened and air bubbles began to appear when it was ready). Turn over and cook another minute or so. I found it took on a lacy golden brown pattern on the side where it first cooked but did not go golden brown on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm.

22 comments:

Johanna, your dosa looks wonderful! I love the combination of red lentils and rice in it, and the gorgeous golden color. In my experience, a little grittiness in the batter is completely OK. Also, I find that urad dal blends to a smooth creamy batter much easier than other lentils. There are many "instant" dosas too, that simply call for mixing flours together (and don't require fermentation either). These don't require any planning at all. Good luck with your future attempts with Indian cooking. I am sure you will become an expert at it very soon!

Wow, I have to admire your diligence and determination! I'm not sure I'd be willing to wait that long (though they do look tempting). I must try these next time we're out for Indian food--then, perhaps, I might give it a go at home!

A daring dosa indeed. This looks great and simpler than I would have imagined it being. Though it still takes quite a bit of time and effort, etc.. Anyhow, this looks great! And I might even try it someday.

Funny that you should post this recipe as I came back from Nice (on the French Riviera) with a fancy for socca. Socca is a thick pancake made with chickpea flour and backed in a very hot oven. It is made and eaten in the streets on market days, with a generous sprinkle of pepper on top.It is much easier (and far quicker) to make than dosa, albeit certainly more bland in taste.

Hats off! Johanna! I feel the same way about new recipes, so can understand how you felt!! But yours has turned out great - I use a wet grinder and that makes a difference! Do try other Indian dishes - some are really quick and easy!

hi malilies - hope you love these too - we just had them with a chunky soup - am sure they would go well with most curries or soups - but I am no expert and suggest you check out srivalli's round up on her blog

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Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.